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Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

openpandora.org

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Re: Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

#41

Post by inoop »

nickik wrote: post #33
pedanticfreak wrote: post #30

OpenPandora had great promise. When they started it there was nothing more powerful. But now it's slower than even the most dated Android phones on the market. 600 mhz A8? We're in the 1.2ghz range right now. Two, three, and four core designs are about to be commonplace.

True, but who cares if you smartphone has 1.2ghz? Its not open and you want get costum optimized stuff like an the pandora. Its not all about the numbers.

I bought a pre-paid zte blade (http://www.okmobile.ch/de/mobile/index.php?id=smartphone) for 90 euros the other day to use as a dev phone. It has a 800x480 TFT touchscreen, 512mb ram, hardware accelerated graphics, GPS, 3G internet, WiFi, bluetooth, and accelerometers/magnetometers. It's pretty open as it runs Froyo 2.2, jailbreak/root is easy, kernel source is available.

Sure, it doesn't have any buttons, you can use a bluetooth joystick/keyboard (i.e. http://www.talkandroid.com/guides/using-a-bluetooth-gamepad-...) if you really want to.

Re: Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

#42

Post by nickik »

gcb wrote: post #35
nickik wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the just didn't want to show that stuff to early. The will realeas the plans and in the meantime you can ask MWeston (he is the hardware designer of the team) he will help you if you have questions.

releasing the plans AFTER you've ordered some thousands from the factory seems to defeat the purpose of being open

Would you have taken the risk there is no compony behind this (like with Neo Freerunner). And open is not all about finding bugs is alsow about learning from what others did.

Re: Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

#43

Post by yozhik »

pedanticfreak wrote: post #30

OpenPandora had great promise. When they started it there was nothing more powerful. But now it's slower than even the most dated Android phones on the market. 600 mhz A8? We're in the 1.2ghz range right now. Two, three, and four core designs are about to be commonplace.

I agree. Open Pandora was really interesting for me when it first came out. Now, I have a Nokia n900. Other than the game controls the n900 is mostly comparable, with the additoin of GSM support. The n900 is also very open, and prevents me form having to carry a separate phone.

Re: Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

#44

Post by gcb »

unwind wrote: post #40
gcb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'd totally buy a bulky phone case with decent controls for gaming. it would be as bulky as carying a GBA, but not as expensive as having another device.

The same people are also working on re-using much of the hardware designed for the Pandora (the analog "nubs" are said to be very good) in a device called the iControlPad. See http://icontrolpad.com/ . Please note that the current hardware to uses Bluetooth to interface with the phone, rather than a physical connector since there seem to be licensing issues with that on (many/all?) of the Apple devices. Here's some v…

that's awesome! despite the unfortunate name...

Re: Pandora: Community driven linux based hardware project, actually shipping units.

#45

Post by momotomo »

aberkowitz wrote: post #39
momotomo wrote: post #9

Surprised it's not android based given that it has an app store and some reasonably popular games already. Anything that would stop them moving in that direction?

While Android is great, I hope you realize that it's not some magical operating system that makes every device with it better.

Agreed, my thinking was mostly about existing customer base and exposure, not the technical side of things.
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